ROME — Canadian Gabriel Diallo lost his opening men’s singles match Thursday at the Italian Open tennis tournament.
Diallo, of Montreal, dropped a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision to American Marcos Giron.
Diallo had more aces (four to two) and a better first-serve percentage (70 per cent to 58 per cent) than his opponent. But Giron converted on two-of-three break attempts while Diallo was one-for-two.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., the 27th seed, is slated to face Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas in singles action Friday at the clay-court Masters-level event.
Montreal’s Felix Auger Aliassime, seeded 26th, is also in the tournament.
On the women’s side, Toronto’s Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., were scheduled to play second-round matches on Friday.
Diallo earned a spot in the main draw in Rome without having to go through qualifying after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Masters-level Madrid Open last week. That run improved his world ranking to a career-high No. 53.
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